Merrell’s Printer Could’ve Made Notes, Fbi Says Expert Says Threats Resemble Data On Suspect’s Computer
Documents found on Verne Jay Merrell’s home computer are nearly the same as threatening notes left at one of last year’s Valley bombings, an FBI computer expert told jurors Wednesday.
And an FBI photo expert testified that Valley bank robbers caught on surveillance video were about the same height as suspects Robert Berry and Charles Barbee.
But defense attorneys pointed out 65 word and punctuation differences between Merrell’s computer document and the bombing notes and will be cross-examining the photo expert this morning.
After three weeks of testimony, prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case against Barbee, Berry and Merrell today.
The Sandpoint white separatists are in their second trial on charges of bombing Valley offices of The Spokesman-Review, Planned Parenthood and U.S. Bank and twice robbing the bank last year.
Their first trial ended in April in a hung jury after one juror refused to convict on the most serious charges.
Testimony from FBI laboratory experts Wednesday varied little from the first trial.
Computer expert Richard Macken testified that Merrell’s computer and two printers - one of which was found shot full of bullet holes - were capable of producing all the letters left at the crime scenes and mailed later to victims.
Defense attorneys pointed out the only identical matches found on Merrell’s computer were to letters sent from Portland in October, which the three men admit mailing.
Macken, however, explained that the trio could easily have manipulated documents from Merrell’s computer and printed them without saving them to his computer hard drive. In that case, no record of them would exist.
FBI photography expert Richard W. Vorder Bruegge told jurors he measured the height of the two bank robbers in bank surveillance photos and came within a quarter-inch of Barbee and Berry’s actual height.
He also began testifying about comparisons between the clothes robbers wore and clothing seized from the three suspects.
Berry, Barbee and Merrell are charged with eight felonies and could face life in prison if convicted.
Defense attorneys should begin presenting their case sometime today and are expected to take about a week.
, DataTimes